1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembly comprising a couple of a male connector and a female connector and, in particular, to a module type connector assembly wherein a male connector comprises a plurality of male housing modules which are superposed and attached together to form a unified male connector, and housings contain a plurality of terminal receptacles arranged in parallel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of connectors, various types of connector assemblies have been known. However, description will be referred specifically to the art of a module type connector assembly for explanation of back ground of the present invention. As an example of the conventional module type connector, FIGS. 1 through 3 show a press-contact connector assembly which has been proposed by the present inventor and disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Prepublication No. 191171/1987.
As shown in FIG. 1, the press-contact connector assembly comprises a female connector 1 and a male connector 3 which is fitted into the female connector and put into a locked state. The male connector 3 comprises two laminar housings 5 and 7, and the housings 5 and 7 are superposed and unified into one male connector by engagement between coupling portions 9 and 11, as shown in FIG. 2. Each of the housings 5 and 7 has a plurality of terminal receptacles 13 for accommodating female terminals 15, as shown in FIG. 3, and the terminal receptacles 13 are arranged in parallel in the housings to form a single layer. In the forward part of each terminal receptacle 13, a cavity 17 is formed to receive an electrical contact 19 of the female terminal 15.
The housing 5, which is an uppermost layer of the male connector 3, is provided with a flexible rocking arm 21 as shown in FIG. 2. The rocking arm 21 is integrally connected to a base plate 23 of the housing 5 through a support portion 25 and extends along an upper surface 23a of the base plate 23. An engagement projection 27 and a press protrusion 29 are formed on an upper surface 21a of the rocking arm 21.
According to the above configuration, when the male connector 3 of the above-described structure is fitted in a coupling hood 31 of the female connector 1, male terminals (not shown) of the female connector 1 are inserted into the electrical contacts 19 of the female terminals 15 to establish electrical connection therebetween. At the same time, the engagement projection 27 of the male connector 3 is engaged with an engagement portion 33 of the female connector 1 to lock the connectors 1 and 3 to one another. In order to disconnect the connectors 1 and 3, the press protrusion 29 is pressed to bend the rocking arm 21. Consequently, the engagement projection 27 is released from the engagement portion 33 to thereby unlock the connectors 1 and 3.
In the above configuration, if it is aimed to reduce the size of the male connector 3, it is required to decrease a whole height H and a thickness h of the base plate 23 supporting the rocking arm 21. However, the base plate 23 of a reduced thickness inevitably has an insufficient strength. As a result of this, if the press protrusion 29 is pressed down to unlock the connectors 1 and 3, the base plate 23 can not bear a force which is concentratedly applied through the support portion 25, and the base plate 23 is deformed and floats up. Consequently, the engagement projection 27 is prevented from being released. In order to cope with the above problem, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a tip end 21b opposite to the support portion 25 of the rocking arm 21 is fixedly attached to the housing 5, and the rocking arm 21 is supported at both ends thereof so as to alleviate the force applied to the base plate 23 and the support portion 25.
However, such a rocking arm 21 as being supported at both ends is difficult to be bent as compared with that supported only by the support portion 25. Therefore, unlocking operation is not easily carried out, and this results in deterioration of a working efficiency.